Pecans deserve a fair shake in our kitchens. Often overshadowed by the similar looking walnut, and disguised in overly sweet Thanksgiving pies, pecans rarely have the opportunity to stand on their own flavor. Taking a moment to sample a raw pecan may surprise you with the nuances discovered within. Lightly smoky in flavor with a [...]
When this girl gets smoking, all food items become suspect. This is the maxim I’ve been developing with my new smoker. The smoker has several shelves of space within, so it only makes sense to fill it up when ever I smoke something. Perusing the food blogs Ideas in Food and 101 Cookbooks have helped [...]
“I’m making magic shell for Allison’s birthday present!” I excitedly whispered to my coworkers all last week. Allison’s recent stories of indulging in this childhood treat as her comfort food had put this easily dismissed ice cream treat front and center in my mind. “Oh wow- I haven’t had that since I was a kid!” [...]
I have a bi-weekly habit I’d like to pass on to you: making your own butter. It’s amazingly easy to do, and delivers a solid high of kitchen happiness. So in this day and age, why would you make your own butter? Honestly- this butter tastes unlike anything you’ll buy in a grocery store. It [...]
To shake up my daily fruit intake I like getting tubs of freeze dried fruit to stash in my desk at work. I noticed this weekend that Just Tomatoes has new-to-me varieties at the grocery store: pomegranate, blackberry, and apricot. I splurged and bought a little tub of pomegranate. According to the packaging, one small [...]
Here’s a round up of my favorite Valentine’s Day recipes from years past. These are morsels to spark the imagination, ignite the taste buds, and lick off the fingers. Ginger Shortbread Hearts with Lemon Curd Lemon and ginger, two tangy flavors that are perfect cuddled up together. This post includes a recipe for ginger shortbread, [...]
Even in the crack of winter, I can’t refuse the blue kiss of sweet ice cream. Here’s the dream that’s on my mind. A glass with jumbled layers of warm chipotle gingerbread, pomegranate gems, pear sorbet, caramel ice cream, and salty candied lemon almonds. A melange of textures makes my mouth happy: soft cake, crunchy [...]
This summer I turned my freezer into a fruit reliquary. I have tubs of golden raspberries, a mob of marionberries, bags of blueberries, and morsels of strawberries. Living in the northwest is a blessing in that it seems to have a berry named for every country. My problem? I sometimes get stuck in viewing these [...]
I admit, I can’t remember the singular event that conspired to the creation of this bacon vodka. It came to life this Christmas and found home in a tasting kit of vodkas I made for friends and family. If you have time, bacon and vodka, you too can have this tasty elixir in your hands. [...]
This recipe from the chef blog Ideas in Food is the perfect combination of salty, sweet, crunchy, chocolaty goodness. It’s the sort of snack that you want to curl up with on a rainy day, take home to meet the parents, hold in your hands on a long walk down the beach… yeah, it’s pretty [...]
